Utilizing 'Brief Novice' to teach new players

[mansa]

Hi,

There is a 'brief' setting called 'brief novice', which I believe we can utilize to give hints to new players, and to help explain what a MUD is and how to interact with various objects.  I believe it is turned on by default.

This idea would require a code change, that would be to add an additional text fields to objects/npcs/rooms that help explain some of the syntax or description of them.

i.e.
In the description of an NPC, you can have at the bottom of it:


>look elf
You look up to the reedy, rust-skinned half-elf.
This male is obviously a half-elf, a mix-breed between a human and an elf. He
has a long face, with splotchy skin, rust-coloured with lighter patches almost
yellowish orange. This pattern is repeated not just on his face, but other parts
of his visible skin. He has almond-shaped, grey-coloured eyes, and a large,
hawk-shaped nose. His lower lip and chin has a cleft, seemingly keeping his lip
always in an exaggerated pout. His body is lean, reedy-like, and is over five
cords in height.

| Novice Out Of Character:     [This can be turned off by typing Brief Novice] |
| This is an NPC, and may be inhabited by staff members.  See Help NPC for more|
| details.                                                                     |

The reedy, rust-skinned half-elf is in poor condition.
...

or

>examine torch
This torch is about a cord long, and is made from the thigh bone of some
creature.  The end is wrapped in cloth and leather, and is dipped with some
sort of flamable liquid.

| Novice Out Of Character:     [This can be turned off by typing Brief Novice] |
| Hold the torch to light the room.  You can 'extinguish' and 'light' torch    |
| objects without a spark source.  See Help Light for more details.            |

or

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe [Leave, Quit]
This restaurant is filled with many types of space faring and time travelling
creatures:  Some are gaseous clouds of sparkling colours, Some have many limbs
and tentacles, and some are relatively humanoid in shape.  Robot waiters serve
the customers, bringing food and drinks.  There is a band at the back of the
room.

| Novice Out Of Character:     [This can be turned off by typing Brief Novice] |
| You can safely 'Quit' in this room, and your character logs out and saves    |
| with all their objects and equipments.  You will log back into this room the |
| next time you play. See Help Quit for more details.                          |


I feel that lately, brand new players we bring into the game will have no reference to MUDs and don't understand some of the long history of syntax and interactivity that these types of games have.  With these Out-Of-Character helpful hints, it should help new players figure out how to interact with the world.


Question:  What do you think?  Would you immediately turn off Brief Novice?

[CrouchingGinka]

I think I could bring new players to this game if a 'brief novice' environment could make them more comfortable. I've never heard of using it until now.

[mansa]

I think I could bring new players to this game if a 'brief novice' environment could make them more comfortable. I've never heard of using it until now.

How does the environment need to change to make it more comfortable?   Could you expand on that a bit more?

[CrouchingGinka]

It's sometimes hard to know the tips and tricks for a given situation. I'm quite old school so I like to read helpfiles in game. I wonder if the environment could reference helpfiles as well, in what you're suggesting.

for instance | This is an npc: help NPC and help Roleplaying to figure out how you can act around them |.

or

| You may quit the game safely here. For more information, type help quit'. |

Some people may not know things like quit OOC <reason>.

There are so many interesting commands that after a long long time I've never known (using 'keyword .' to see what's in the room and on your person for instance that's a neat one).  Many of these commands are specific to particular 'rooms' or items. That's what I meant by environment.

[Ammut]

Many games have an academy of sorts to learn the ropes, syntax, and so on.

I'd be more in favor of building such an academy for first time players that explains how to interact with the game, use the Way, why we use ooc sometimes, and so on.

Just my .02

[mansa]

Many games have an academy of sorts to learn the ropes, syntax, and so on.

I'd be more in favor of building such an academy for first time players that explains how to interact with the game, use the Way, why we use ooc sometimes, and so on.

Just my .02

This already exists, and you can go through it!

When you are in the hall of kings, type 'point newbie'.

[Ammut]

I'm showing my age, mansa.  I don't think I've ever gone through the point newbie academy.

I vow to do this next time I roll a character and come back with solid feedback.

That said, is it a -requirement- for new players to point newbie? Is there any way we could /hint hint hint/ that without doing so, it may be a difficult journey?

[mansa]

It is my opinion that you need to constantly show and remind players how to do things, rather than just informing them how to do things once.
Which is why my idea about "brief novice" is in addition to the helpfiles on the website, and in addition to the new player guides that pop up, and in addition to the point newbie school.

[Barsook]

It is my opinion that you need to constantly show and remind players how to do things, rather than just informing them how to do things once.
Which is why my idea about "brief novice" is in addition to the helpfiles on the website, and in addition to the new player guides that pop up, and in addition to the point newbie school.

Positive feedback and reinforcement always helps and I like this idea for this reason. You could even have a hint about the helpfiles when you first enter the game!

[Riev]

I would also like to bring up the un-used "review" flag as well.

Originally it was a flag to turn on during RP scenes so staff monitoring would know you're engaged in some sort of plot-heavy scene and may want to come down, observe, and even provide feedback. This obviously doesn't happen anymore.

What if, by default, new accounts had the "review" flag set, so staff logging in can see, at a glance, who is at least LIKELY a newbie and may need some monitoring and assistance?

[Barsook]

I like the idea but I think it would be good for maybe a IRL three months and then it turns off automatically.

[WarriorPoet]

I'm showing my age, mansa.  I don't think I've ever gone through the point newbie academy.

Same. This new generation, with their newbie academies and their disco dancing! In my day you walked out the gates and died 4 times in a row until Sujaal found you and brought you into the Byn. Like god intended!

[huntsforblood]

Some of the best scenes I had as a newbie (and in general) have been when people included NPCs. When I didn't always know which character was an NPC or which was a PC, it helped me build up Arm as a real place in my mind that I still use to focus my role-play. Within the last year even, I actually put my character in danger for an NPC I thought was a PC ally of someone I was trying to make grounds with - and weirdly, it worked, and was mentioned later.

I don't like this idea at all, or anything that puts more OOC into the in-game world. As much as I want this place to be more friendly to new players, I don't think this is the route to go, as the "everything you see is in game" part of Arm is a large part of Arm.

[stoicreader]

Syntax is helpful. I'm all for this. Boredom is what gets me. Like the hours upon hours I'll go through before my first interaction.

[Veselka]

I would love to have a mentor program, perhaps coordinated through this new Helper Program that is getting rolled out. I've seen similar things on other RPI MU*s, where there is a 'Newbie Channel' that veterans can opt into, but new players are automatically rolled into. You can opt out at anytime.

Yes, to my die hard veterans, I totally get it. I hate having to see a newbie channel, and it would be one more thing for Staff to moderate for IC info etc. But to me, it's keeping it more within the game, rather than the Discord, which can be missed. Yes, it's in the character approval message, but it's still outside of the game. It's one more step away, and people often log in, get frustrated, can't ask questions, and quit.

I found similar Newbie Channel systems exceedingly helpful on other games like Harshlands, which was a totally different setting/environment than ArmageddonMUD. If I ran into a syntax error, I could just ask in the newbie channel and reliably get an answer within a few seconds. If I had a question about lore, I would get varying responses that were verbose or incredibly insightful, and not just a helpfile link.

I think having this channel -- to start -- you could just opt in approved Helpers. So the rest of the game world (non-newbies) aren't included in the channel, either listening to it or able to respond to it. New Players (First five characters, say) are automatically opted into the channel when they start the game. They can choose to opt out at anytime, and opt back in (So if they are, say, in the middle of a juicy RP scene, they don't need to have Newbie on all the time, and there could be a reminder when they log in that they should feel free to turn it off if it is ruining their immersion in the game world.)

I feel that might be less work than the 'help novice' additions to NPCs, objects, and so on.

[Ammut]

I could get behind a newbie/helper channel.  Most of these kinds of features could be logged, so even if a staffer wasn't online at the time they could be reviewed for anyone sharing IC info.  Not everyone wants to join a Discord channel on top of making a character, so maybe the best way to reach new players as they are struggling is in game?

I'm showing my age, mansa.  I don't think I've ever gone through the point newbie academy.

Same. This new generation, with their newbie academies and their disco dancing! In my day you walked out the gates and died 4 times in a row until Sujaal found you and brought you into the Byn. Like god intended!

4 times is rookie numbers.  I think my first account that has been lost to time had a new c-elf pickpocket made nearly every day for six months because I kept dying to the crimcode.  That and starvation in the Allanaki jails.  Something something Ammut elven darwinism

[Doublepalli]

I thought the byn was the newbie tutorial 😅